There is a need to resurrect past concerts of Indian Classical Music now that social distancing norms have put paid to the hopes of live performances. Maya Art Space (Calcutta) celebrated its 7th anniversary with a veena recital by Revathi Sadasivam with skilled accompaniment by Shankar Narayanaswamy on the mridangam. The concert began with a song on lord Ganesha, “Vinayakaninnu”, in the popular Raga Hamsadhwani. This was followed by a kriti by Thyagaraja in a rarely-heard Raga Manoranjani, set to the eight-beat cycle, aditala. Next, Sadasivam played the traditional Raga Anandabhairavi with utmost care before presenting another well-known composition. Revathi’s spontaneity and expertise enchanted the listeners.
“Raghuvamsha”, a fast-paced popular song was a delight for listeners as well. The highlight of the evening, though, was a piece in Raga Kirawanivich, which was preceded by an elaborate and rich alapana as well as a tanam, comprising some unusual patterns. The cycles and the melody spread unique magic. This led up to the taniavartanam on the mridangam by Narayanaswamy, who was energetic and spontaneous throughout the rendition. The performance was well appreciated by the audience. The concert concluded with some light devotional pieces.
Another show by Saaz aur Awaz aimed to promote Indian classical music. Although the name, Ritu Vasant Ayee, suggested a celebration of spring, the programme was a compact blend of varied flavours, rhythms and tunes of different ragas. Partha Bose chose ragas like Bahar and Kafi for his sitar recital. He was charming in his handling of Raga Bahar — the nature of the raga is soulful and the artist maintained the fluidity of its structure. The usual beauty of Raga Kafi was brought out by Bose on his sitar, evoking images of vasant, holi and love. Sabir Khan supported the performance beautifully.
Raza Ali Khan, the torchbearer of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, treated listeners to vocal renditions of ragas like Bihag and Basant. His voice flowed smoothly through the key movements and created an enjoyable ambience. The evergreen composition “Aye na balam” evoked a note of nostalgia at G.D. Birla Sabhagar.
Partha Bose was also a part of another show, Samarpan, a two-day classical music festival by Deedhiti at the Triguna Sen Auditorium in Jadavpur University in memory of the sarod exponent, Dhyanesh Khan, son of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Bose delighted the audience with Raga Purvi Kalyan. The difficult structure of the raga was expressed with great clarity. He also played Malgunji, and it was an arresting performance. Amitava Majumdar, a senior disciple of Dhyanesh Khan, rendered an elaborate version of Bhimpalasi, with steady laykari and flow. Sanjay Banerjee’s vocal recital in Shyam Kalyan enchanted the audience as well. The performance of Ashish Khan and Shiraz Ali Khan came as a spark of nostalgia for Bengalis as they played Raga Madhuwanti and Raga Palaskafi.
This musical event also gave the city audience a glimpse of budding talents like Dhyanesh Khan’s son, Shiraz Ali Khan (sarod), Indrajit Basu (flute), Indradeep Ghosh (violin), Pankaj Mishra (sarengi) and Sandip Mallick (Kathak dancer).
